I just got off the phone with Brooke Osborne, aka "Wampus Cat". She was calling from Mammoth Lakes, California where she and Gavin Morris, aka "Zen" have just completed their 900th mile on the Pacific Crest Trail. They are already 1/3 of the way to Canada.
Wampus was in good spirits as she enthusiastically described her and Zen's recent highlights on the trail. There was the Bishop Bear that staked out a campground and forced our intrepid adventures to cross a high mountain pass, in the dark, by headlamp, after a long day, with lots of food, in search of a bear box. It took them nearly 3 hours to go 4.3 miles and I'll bet that Bear's ears are still burning over the expletives that were probably evoked every step of the way.
There was also a recent stream crossing where some of their camera equipment went unexpectedly white water rafting and had to be quickly recovered. Luckily, no equipment or files were lost or damaged. It sounded to me like when Sacagawea saved some valuable specimens collected by the Lewis & Clark Expedition when they were swept overboard while riding out some rapids.
These experiences are Wampus Cat and Zen's. They have happened to them. As a writer of non-fiction, it has been hard for me to communicate what they were doing. I am not the one doing it, but I have figured out a way to better cover this epic journey.
Through a collaborative effort with Wampus and Zen, together we will be able to shed some light on their thru hiking experience.
I had originally thought of comparing and contrasting their journey to my everyday life. This was like trying to play solitaire with a half a deck of cards. How did I know what they were experiencing and dealing with to be able to compare it to what I did know? I couldn't, but through a recent two day one night backpack trip of my own, enlightenment on the subject was achieved.
Their accomplishments are just that, their accomplishments. When I read about a guy like Andrew Skurka, it is incredible what that guy has done, but it may as well be a trip to the moon as far as me being able to relate to it, for it is his journey, not mine.
So, if I write a little and Wampus and Zen chime in as well, maybe the end result will be what I envisioned from the start, the recording of an historical journey that you do not see attempted everyday.
Sunday, June 24, 2012
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Monday, January 16, 2012
The AT
“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” – Confucius
The Appalachian Trail is the Everest of hiking trails. It is a 2,181 mile journey and to hike the entire trail, one must take approximately 5,757,840 footsteps. To try and give a little perspective of this feat, I have done a little figuring using a local landmark, Horsetooth Mountain, as my control for this explanation.
Horsetooth Mountain in Fort Collins sits at 5,400 feet in elevation and rises up to 7,256 feet at its summit. The trail to the top is approximately 2.75 miles long and 5.5 miles roundtrip. When you hike it, you climb 1,856 feet up and descend 1,856 feet down giving you a plus minus of 3,712 feet in elevation. When you hike Horsetooth, you take approximately 14,520 footsteps.
To simulate hiking the Appalachian Trail, you would have to hike Horsetooth Mountain 396.5 times. If you hiked it twice a day, it would take you 198.25 days. That many days equals 28.3 weeks or 6.6 months.
Imagine starting on April 1st and hiking Horsetooth twice a day every day for the months of: April, May, June, July, August, September, and half of October.
Some qualifying differences to mention would include not carrying a backpack of say 30 lbs. You also would be hiking the exact same trail 396.5 times. I think the biggest difference would be the sheer magnitude of the task at hand in hiking the Appalachian Trail. Imagine starting
off hiking 181 miles in say 2.5 weeks and then facing the realization that you still have 2,000 more miles to go.
If that realization doesn’t discourage you, there are other factors that may. There is the weather on the east coast consisting of anything from heat and humidity, to rain and fog, to cold and snow in the higher elevations. There are bugs including mosquitoes, flies, and ticks.
There is Poison Ivy. There are snakes. There are mice and rats in the shelters and there are leeches in the streams.
You will sleep in a tent or in an open shelter every night. You go the bathroom in outhouses, if you are lucky. Your food and drink is what you want to carry, which I guess rules out that 6-pack of beer every night sitting around the campfire.
The scenery is trees and rocks and dirt and more trees and more rocks and more dirt. Since the forest cannot be seen through these trees, you are kind of hiking in a wooded tunnel. Did I mention that you will smell bad and constantly be dirty?
It is said to cost $1.50 - $2.50 a mile to thru hike the trail. Where do unemployed people get $3,271.50 - $5,452.50 for their trip? If they do
work, how do they get 5-6 months off and still have a job to come back to?
It is also said that life is different on the trail. Really? With an itinerary consisting of: wake up, cook breakfast, break camp, walk 15 miles, stop, make camp, eat dinner, sleep, repeat 150 times, this sounds pretty
routine to me.
I am told what makes this hike so special is the things you miss. Things like taking a shower, having ice cream on a hot day, eating a cheese burger and fries, eating pizza, not smelling bad, not being dirty, not being eaten alive by bugs, and missing all that news coverage of the daily lives of the Kardashians.
I do wish people well who both attempt and complete this journey. I am just not sold on the idea, yet.
The Appalachian Trail is the Everest of hiking trails. It is a 2,181 mile journey and to hike the entire trail, one must take approximately 5,757,840 footsteps. To try and give a little perspective of this feat, I have done a little figuring using a local landmark, Horsetooth Mountain, as my control for this explanation.
Horsetooth Mountain in Fort Collins sits at 5,400 feet in elevation and rises up to 7,256 feet at its summit. The trail to the top is approximately 2.75 miles long and 5.5 miles roundtrip. When you hike it, you climb 1,856 feet up and descend 1,856 feet down giving you a plus minus of 3,712 feet in elevation. When you hike Horsetooth, you take approximately 14,520 footsteps.
To simulate hiking the Appalachian Trail, you would have to hike Horsetooth Mountain 396.5 times. If you hiked it twice a day, it would take you 198.25 days. That many days equals 28.3 weeks or 6.6 months.
Imagine starting on April 1st and hiking Horsetooth twice a day every day for the months of: April, May, June, July, August, September, and half of October.
Some qualifying differences to mention would include not carrying a backpack of say 30 lbs. You also would be hiking the exact same trail 396.5 times. I think the biggest difference would be the sheer magnitude of the task at hand in hiking the Appalachian Trail. Imagine starting
off hiking 181 miles in say 2.5 weeks and then facing the realization that you still have 2,000 more miles to go.
If that realization doesn’t discourage you, there are other factors that may. There is the weather on the east coast consisting of anything from heat and humidity, to rain and fog, to cold and snow in the higher elevations. There are bugs including mosquitoes, flies, and ticks.
There is Poison Ivy. There are snakes. There are mice and rats in the shelters and there are leeches in the streams.
You will sleep in a tent or in an open shelter every night. You go the bathroom in outhouses, if you are lucky. Your food and drink is what you want to carry, which I guess rules out that 6-pack of beer every night sitting around the campfire.
The scenery is trees and rocks and dirt and more trees and more rocks and more dirt. Since the forest cannot be seen through these trees, you are kind of hiking in a wooded tunnel. Did I mention that you will smell bad and constantly be dirty?
It is said to cost $1.50 - $2.50 a mile to thru hike the trail. Where do unemployed people get $3,271.50 - $5,452.50 for their trip? If they do
work, how do they get 5-6 months off and still have a job to come back to?
It is also said that life is different on the trail. Really? With an itinerary consisting of: wake up, cook breakfast, break camp, walk 15 miles, stop, make camp, eat dinner, sleep, repeat 150 times, this sounds pretty
routine to me.
I am told what makes this hike so special is the things you miss. Things like taking a shower, having ice cream on a hot day, eating a cheese burger and fries, eating pizza, not smelling bad, not being dirty, not being eaten alive by bugs, and missing all that news coverage of the daily lives of the Kardashians.
I do wish people well who both attempt and complete this journey. I am just not sold on the idea, yet.
Monday, January 9, 2012
On Frozen Pond
If the months of December, January, and February make up the season of winter, then we are at the halfway point already. Snowshoes and skis will be put to good use as the days begin to lengthen again, but one winter activity that has gotten less playing time for me since I moved to Colorado is ice skating. When the landscape changed from flat to sloped, I guess it was inevitable that the blades wouldn’t get much use, but back in the day, ice was the vehicle for fun and adventure.
Recently on a trip back to Michigan, I was reminded that I grew up playing hockey. We were sitting in the stands at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit watching The University of Michigan play Boston College in The Great Lakes Invitational annual college hockey tournament and there was an eleven year-old kid watching the game a row in front of us. It was like looking in the mirror 40 years ago.
Playing Pee Wee hockey was an indoor activity played in an indoor ice arena, but we also played ice hockey in the woods across the street whenever Mother Nature cooperated. The ponds would freeze and we would spend hours and hours freezing as well as we scrapped out games against each other. Our hands and feet would get so cold that some of us even got a touch of frost bite every once and awhile.
To prepare for the winter, the entire neighborhood would venture out into the woods in late fall with garden rakes and try and clear the grassy marshes in hopes of creating a super ice rink. The native grasses if left to nature froze in the ice creating an un-skate-able surface. We would also maintain the woods ice by shoveling off new snow and using brooms to clean off the ice shavings from the games.
One year, a neighborhood kid’s dad made an ice rink in their backyard. He formed the edges up with snow and used a garden hose to spray water in the area to create the ice. It worked so well that I tried to create my own version on our patio. My mother actually let me connect a garden hose to the hot water heater and run a hose thru the kitchen and spray water out the window on to the patio. Most of the water ended up evaporating or seeping thru the clay patio bricks, but I did create enough ice one time to briefly skate on.
Our creek, the North Branch of the Chicago River, would freeze some years and you could literally skate out of town on this ice super highway. You had to avoid overhanging tree limbs and low bridges under streets, but when it was cold enough long enough, you could skate for miles and miles.
Here in Colorado, we have ice skated in the past at Beaver Meadows in the Red Feather
Lakes area. They have a nice little pond to skate on there. They rent ice skates
and have a warming hut near the pond when the cold winter wind gets to be too much for you. You can also cross country ski on man-made trails and tube down hills. Finally, there is a rustic restaurant to get a bite to eat or get a cup of hot chocolate at.
My step daughter and her boyfriend recently went ice skating inside at the Northern Colorado Ice Area near our home in Windsor. They had fun and both were quite proud of the fact that they didn’t fall. Maybe it’s time for me to get back in the game again…
Recently on a trip back to Michigan, I was reminded that I grew up playing hockey. We were sitting in the stands at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit watching The University of Michigan play Boston College in The Great Lakes Invitational annual college hockey tournament and there was an eleven year-old kid watching the game a row in front of us. It was like looking in the mirror 40 years ago.
Playing Pee Wee hockey was an indoor activity played in an indoor ice arena, but we also played ice hockey in the woods across the street whenever Mother Nature cooperated. The ponds would freeze and we would spend hours and hours freezing as well as we scrapped out games against each other. Our hands and feet would get so cold that some of us even got a touch of frost bite every once and awhile.
To prepare for the winter, the entire neighborhood would venture out into the woods in late fall with garden rakes and try and clear the grassy marshes in hopes of creating a super ice rink. The native grasses if left to nature froze in the ice creating an un-skate-able surface. We would also maintain the woods ice by shoveling off new snow and using brooms to clean off the ice shavings from the games.
One year, a neighborhood kid’s dad made an ice rink in their backyard. He formed the edges up with snow and used a garden hose to spray water in the area to create the ice. It worked so well that I tried to create my own version on our patio. My mother actually let me connect a garden hose to the hot water heater and run a hose thru the kitchen and spray water out the window on to the patio. Most of the water ended up evaporating or seeping thru the clay patio bricks, but I did create enough ice one time to briefly skate on.
Our creek, the North Branch of the Chicago River, would freeze some years and you could literally skate out of town on this ice super highway. You had to avoid overhanging tree limbs and low bridges under streets, but when it was cold enough long enough, you could skate for miles and miles.
Here in Colorado, we have ice skated in the past at Beaver Meadows in the Red Feather
Lakes area. They have a nice little pond to skate on there. They rent ice skates
and have a warming hut near the pond when the cold winter wind gets to be too much for you. You can also cross country ski on man-made trails and tube down hills. Finally, there is a rustic restaurant to get a bite to eat or get a cup of hot chocolate at.
My step daughter and her boyfriend recently went ice skating inside at the Northern Colorado Ice Area near our home in Windsor. They had fun and both were quite proud of the fact that they didn’t fall. Maybe it’s time for me to get back in the game again…
Saturday, January 7, 2012
Who is #1?
Who is college football's best team?
If you answered LSU or Alabama you would be right for this season, but what about all time? The following teams have the most wins in Division 1 football all time:
1. Michigan - 888 wins
2. Texas - 853 wins
3. Notre Dame - 845 wins
4. Nebraska - 836 wins
5. Ohio State - 825 wins
6. Alabama - 824 wins
7. Penn State - 821 wins
8. Oklahoma - 806 wins
9. Tennessee - 789 wins
10. USC - 784 wins
National Championships and winning percentages and conferences aside, when it comes down to it, the question will always be, did you win or lose the game?
1. Michigan - 888 wins
2. Texas - 853 wins
3. Notre Dame - 845 wins
4. Nebraska - 836 wins
5. Ohio State - 825 wins
6. Alabama - 824 wins
7. Penn State - 821 wins
8. Oklahoma - 806 wins
9. Tennessee - 789 wins
10. USC - 784 wins
National Championships and winning percentages and conferences aside, when it comes down to it, the question will always be, did you win or lose the game?
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Mills Lake Snowshoe Adventure
It has been 3 months since I was here at the Glacier Gorge Trailhead in Rocky Mountain National Park. The warm early autumn weather at that time has been replaced by some warm early winter weather. Skies are sunny with temperatures in the mid 30’s and miraculously there is little to no wind. My hiking boots have been replaced by a pair of snowshoes for today’s adventure to Mills Lake.
The trailhead sitting at 9,240 feet in elevation is no longer cloaked in fluttering leaves of gold. Instead the entire ecosystem is blanketed by a thick layer of snow. The sounds of nature seem to be as quiet as a sleeping bear hibernating for the winter. Any noise from the park road or from other snowshoe enthusiasts is quickly absorbed by the white insulation on the ground.
As I walk along the packed down snow on the trail, all I hear is the crunching sound emanating from beneath my stride. An occasional rattle from my backpack reminds me why I am making this journey today as a sizable tripod for my camera is in tow and strapped to the outside of my pack. The goal is to capture some snow capped peaks from a distance in my lens and I am confident that the backdrop of Mills Lake will fit this description. All I have to do is get there before the light fades into the winter sky.
The forest thickens as I continue my trek. Snow looks as if it has been sprayed on the trees. Although the elevation gain is only 700 feet by the time I reach Mills Lake, it feels as if I am on an escalator up the mountain. My snowshoes grip the packed snow on the trail and my poles help me to slowly advance up as well.
Mills Lake sits at 9,940 feet in elevation. The last time I was here, an elk swam across it. This time, after a lone figure on snow shoes crosses the lake, I am completely alone. There is a deafening silence as I remember my encounter with the elk in the fall. I also begin to wonder if it is safe to be standing on the snow covered ice taking pictures. I move around as to not stand in any one place for very long. The ice holds.
A gust of wind hits me in the face and reminds me that I am high up in the mountains. With the light fading, it is time to head on down the trail. My perception of the trail is now one of a lot of up to get this far. My snowshoes grip the trail as I rapidly make my way down. I come around a bend and remember that elk that charged me for the fun of it last September. He is nowhere to be seen today. It is just me and my thoughts on this day.
The last part of the trail back to the trailhead of course is uphill and I am ready to be done. I hear other people that are making their way back as well. I decide that no one will pass me as I accelerate toward the parking lot. This last burst of energy taxes my feet a little as I feel the effects of the nearly 6 miles I have walked today.
When I return again this winter, I might try this trail on cross country skis. It may be a little dicey in some spots, but well worth the risk. I’ll let you know how it turns out.
The trailhead sitting at 9,240 feet in elevation is no longer cloaked in fluttering leaves of gold. Instead the entire ecosystem is blanketed by a thick layer of snow. The sounds of nature seem to be as quiet as a sleeping bear hibernating for the winter. Any noise from the park road or from other snowshoe enthusiasts is quickly absorbed by the white insulation on the ground.
As I walk along the packed down snow on the trail, all I hear is the crunching sound emanating from beneath my stride. An occasional rattle from my backpack reminds me why I am making this journey today as a sizable tripod for my camera is in tow and strapped to the outside of my pack. The goal is to capture some snow capped peaks from a distance in my lens and I am confident that the backdrop of Mills Lake will fit this description. All I have to do is get there before the light fades into the winter sky.
The forest thickens as I continue my trek. Snow looks as if it has been sprayed on the trees. Although the elevation gain is only 700 feet by the time I reach Mills Lake, it feels as if I am on an escalator up the mountain. My snowshoes grip the packed snow on the trail and my poles help me to slowly advance up as well.
Mills Lake sits at 9,940 feet in elevation. The last time I was here, an elk swam across it. This time, after a lone figure on snow shoes crosses the lake, I am completely alone. There is a deafening silence as I remember my encounter with the elk in the fall. I also begin to wonder if it is safe to be standing on the snow covered ice taking pictures. I move around as to not stand in any one place for very long. The ice holds.
A gust of wind hits me in the face and reminds me that I am high up in the mountains. With the light fading, it is time to head on down the trail. My perception of the trail is now one of a lot of up to get this far. My snowshoes grip the trail as I rapidly make my way down. I come around a bend and remember that elk that charged me for the fun of it last September. He is nowhere to be seen today. It is just me and my thoughts on this day.
The last part of the trail back to the trailhead of course is uphill and I am ready to be done. I hear other people that are making their way back as well. I decide that no one will pass me as I accelerate toward the parking lot. This last burst of energy taxes my feet a little as I feel the effects of the nearly 6 miles I have walked today.
When I return again this winter, I might try this trail on cross country skis. It may be a little dicey in some spots, but well worth the risk. I’ll let you know how it turns out.
Christmas for Cowboys
“Tall in the saddle, we spend Christmas Day,
driving the cattle over snow covered-plains.
All of the good gifts given today,
ours is the sky and the wide open range…
…a campfire for warmth as we stop for the night,
the stars overhead are Christmas tree lights.
The wind sings a hymn as we bow down to pray,
It's Christmas for cowboys, wide-open plains…”
-John Denver,
Christmas for Cowboys
Perhaps you are up early and reading this or perhaps you are relaxing in your easy chair as the afternoon meanders by. Either way, I hope you are warm and comfortable. Warm and comfortable were not part of the job description for the American cowboy and they were not part of the journey for Mary and Joseph on their way to Bethlehem that first Christmas.
Let’s set the scene. You are nine months pregnant and traveling by donkey. At the end of your journey, the only thing for certain is that you have no place to stay. It is getting dark and cold, so you take refuge in a manger. You surround yourself with animals to help keep warm. Oh, then there is the whole having a baby thing. All I can say is that Mary was one tough cookie.
Fast forward 2011 years and here we are. The hustle and bustle of Christmas should pretty much be over by now. If you are like me, you might have even taken inventory of your gifts. As a kid, I remember neatly piling up all the wonderful presents I got and then feeling a little tinge of sadness that Christmas was kind of over for that year. The afternoon light was usually fading and the Christmas meal had begunto digest. A winter nap was next and then maybe one more viewing of “It’s a Wonderful Life”.
Somewhere along the line, going to see a movie at a theatre became a tradition on Christmas night. I guess the Christmas day movie is like watching football games on Thanksgiving. We all can take only so
much of our family and relatives before we need to escape with a good diversion.
That reminds me of that Christmas special of the little boy who wants a BB gun for Christmas. His family ends up at a Chinese restaurant for Christmas dinner because the neighbor’s dogs storm their house and devour their Christmas turkey. Thus another Christmas tradition was started for some, going out for Chinese on Christmas night.
And yet when it is all said and done, perhaps Linus of the Peanuts cartoon was right when he concisely breaks down what Christmas is all about to a frustrated Charlie Brown:
"And there were in the same country shepherds, abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them! And they were sore afraid ...
And the angel said unto them, "Fear not! For, behold, I bring you tidings o great joy, which shall be to all my people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ, the Lord."
"And this shall be a sign unto you: Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger."
And suddenly, there was with the angel a multitude of the Heavenly Host praising God, and saying, "Glory to God in the Highest, and on Earth peace, and good will toward men."
"That's what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown."
-Linus Van Pelt
driving the cattle over snow covered-plains.
All of the good gifts given today,
ours is the sky and the wide open range…
…a campfire for warmth as we stop for the night,
the stars overhead are Christmas tree lights.
The wind sings a hymn as we bow down to pray,
It's Christmas for cowboys, wide-open plains…”
-John Denver,
Christmas for Cowboys
Perhaps you are up early and reading this or perhaps you are relaxing in your easy chair as the afternoon meanders by. Either way, I hope you are warm and comfortable. Warm and comfortable were not part of the job description for the American cowboy and they were not part of the journey for Mary and Joseph on their way to Bethlehem that first Christmas.
Let’s set the scene. You are nine months pregnant and traveling by donkey. At the end of your journey, the only thing for certain is that you have no place to stay. It is getting dark and cold, so you take refuge in a manger. You surround yourself with animals to help keep warm. Oh, then there is the whole having a baby thing. All I can say is that Mary was one tough cookie.
Fast forward 2011 years and here we are. The hustle and bustle of Christmas should pretty much be over by now. If you are like me, you might have even taken inventory of your gifts. As a kid, I remember neatly piling up all the wonderful presents I got and then feeling a little tinge of sadness that Christmas was kind of over for that year. The afternoon light was usually fading and the Christmas meal had begunto digest. A winter nap was next and then maybe one more viewing of “It’s a Wonderful Life”.
Somewhere along the line, going to see a movie at a theatre became a tradition on Christmas night. I guess the Christmas day movie is like watching football games on Thanksgiving. We all can take only so
much of our family and relatives before we need to escape with a good diversion.
That reminds me of that Christmas special of the little boy who wants a BB gun for Christmas. His family ends up at a Chinese restaurant for Christmas dinner because the neighbor’s dogs storm their house and devour their Christmas turkey. Thus another Christmas tradition was started for some, going out for Chinese on Christmas night.
And yet when it is all said and done, perhaps Linus of the Peanuts cartoon was right when he concisely breaks down what Christmas is all about to a frustrated Charlie Brown:
"And there were in the same country shepherds, abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them! And they were sore afraid ...
And the angel said unto them, "Fear not! For, behold, I bring you tidings o great joy, which shall be to all my people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ, the Lord."
"And this shall be a sign unto you: Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger."
And suddenly, there was with the angel a multitude of the Heavenly Host praising God, and saying, "Glory to God in the Highest, and on Earth peace, and good will toward men."
"That's what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown."
-Linus Van Pelt
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